Candidate ruined job interview in minutes after they misunderstood simple question

People are flooding online to weigh in after a hopeful candidate revealed how quickly they ‘messed up’ a job interview.

Job interviews – possibly one of the most anxiety-inducing activities any of us ever have to go through and no matter how well prepared you are, something always seems to throw a spanner in the works.

Whether it’s you make a rogue joke in an attempt to break the ice or fumbling up the initial handshake, things can go downhill before you’ve even got going and one candidate has revealed they stumbled at the very first question and within just two minutes of the interview getting started.

Reddit user u/That_Comic_Who_Quit took to thread r/UKJobs to ask: “What’s the earliest you’ve messed up a job interview?”

And to kick things off, they decided to give their own example.

They explained they were asked by the interviewer: “Tell me how you got here today?” to which the candidate swiftly replied: “By bus.”

Their post continues: “I got a stone cold stare as the realisation hit me… He meant in my career not to the physical office. The remaining 58 minutes were going through the motions.”

And it’s not taken long for people to flood to the comments to give their own equally as toe-curling yet hilarious experiences.

It’s easier than you think to accidentally put your foot in it in job interviews (Getty Stock Images/ Xavier Lorenzo)

U/LucidTopiary said: “‘Whats your background’

“I Look behind myself and back around to video call ‘Well it’s a sort of mirror?’…. ‘I mean what is your background in work?’ …. I still haven’t recovered from that.”

“‘Do you have a driving licence and your own car?’ ‘Yes’

“‘Is it clean?’ ‘Er, yeah, I washed it the other day actually’ ‘I meant the licence…'” U/Onebadlion added.

And u/TastyDragonfruit3000 wrote: “I was 18 and had applied to be a GP receptionist whilst trying to figure out what I wanted to do with life, had just dropped out of uni so was in a bad place.

“I’d been plagued by spam calls in recent days, and I got a ‘no caller ID’ call and answered it with silence… there was also silence on the other end. After about 10 seconds I say “so are you going to say something? what do you want?” in an annoyed tone.

“Turns out it was the GP receptionist calling me to test my phone manner as a screening process. I didn’t get the job!”

So, how about you?